All Forum Posts by: Ross Carlson

@James Konvalinka Yes I have considered Milwaukee but I am not as familiar with the surrounding Milwaukee area as I would be with Racine/Kenosha/Chicago. That being said, the more opportunities the better! I am really only familiar with Downtown Milwaukee and Wauwatosa having been there a number of times.

If I decide to venture even farther north I will for sure reach out to you. 

@Joe Villeneuve Thanks Joe, this is great information and will use this as a framework when working with potential agents. 

@Jonathan Klemm Hey Jonathan, for now I am primarily focused on Southern Wisconsin but will eventually focus back on Chicago. My partner and I originally started looking in Chicago but quickly realized we needed to build up greater capital reserves first unless we ventured out into the burbs. We also worked with realtors that weren't very experienced in working with investors (part of the reason for my post)

@Marcin Talaga Thanks Marcin, that would be very helpful in my search

@Heidi Braunhardt Hi Heidi, I am primarily focused on Southeastern Wisconsin (Kenosha and Racine) but also interested in parts of Northern Illinois as they have some good pockets from what I have seen.

@Kiya Tabb Thanks Kiya! This is very helpful and I will try to hold back on overdoing it on the investing rules and terms. To me it does seem like there is a trend, a good RE Agent will typically be an investor themselves which makes sense or atleast be very familiar with the types of investments in said market.

@Jonathan Greene Thanks Jonathan for the recommendation. My partner and I are not afraid of distressed properties so it makes sense to find an agent that is comfortable working in this space. 

@Jake Fugman Thanks for the reply Jake. I have been trying to use the Agent finder for Kenosha/Racine but the options there are limited. I am from Chicago but looking to start my investment journey north of the border. I may try searching under Chicago and seeing if any of them also work in Southern Wisconsin.

Just happened to stumble upon this old thread. Top 42 books mentioned on the BP podcasts

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I guess it kind of depends on what type of real estate investing you want to get into and what areas of your education you need to expand on.

The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner was excellent. 

David Greene has two great books in my opinion, the BRRRR(Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat) book and Long Distance Real Estate Investing.

If you want to do a deep dive into cash flow, look up "What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to know about Cash Flow" by Frank Gallinelli

Hope this helps

Hi Everyone,

I am beginning my search for an investor friendly realtor but having a tough time finding one on websites with good investor experience. Does anyone have any questions or tips on how to separate the average realtor from an investor friendly realtor?

I plan on describing my investment strategy to them and see if they are familiar/comfortable with the types of homes I am looking for. In addition to asking about their background and if they own any investment properties themselves.

I know Brandon Turner always mentions referrals as the best way but I am having a difficult time coming up with any referrals.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Ross

Thanks for the replies! Really appreciate the feedback thus far. I have been running into issues with finding properties that return decent cash flow for rentals in my area, so perhaps the flip route would work out well. My partner has over 30 years of experience as a builder so maybe this is the route to go.

@Jonathan Klemm I have mainly been looking in the Avondale, Portage Park, Old Irving park areas in addition to Waukegan (much further north than Chicago) for decent cash flowing places but like I mentioned above, finding cash on cash returns above 8% is pretty rare right now. Thanks

@Mark Ainley Thanks Mark! I will listen to this podcast today and see if this is something I want to pursue.

Has anyone had success buying, holding, and renting out Condos/Apartments in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs?

Starting out I am struggling a bit to find affordable properties in the Chicagoland area that have good CoC returns that don't require a tremendous amount of work to rehab.

Wondering if this is a good area to look at since the entry point for these places are much lower than most of the inventory in Chicago. I also like the idea of not having to do as much maintenance since the HOA would be paying for all of the exterior maintenance.

Would love any feedback on things I should look out for when considering apartments/condos.